I completely disagree. Ki is not a form of energy it is controlled use of the body systems through intent. It's effects -on the body- are palpable so people incorrectly assign it to an "energy" all it's own.Think ki will not produce anything real
Managing your body systems to think "lead ki" in certain described manners produces real results in a health system of moving your bodies energy and in a martial system to produce power.

I really don't care what most people in Budo think about it. What they have written about is mostly guess work and regurgitated nonsense tatamount to a "belief system," Japanese and Westerners alike.They fail in producing anything other than fairy tale cooperative nonsense. In so doing they give a very real technology a bad name.

Others use it to make some progress and while doing *some* correct things that organize the body, they mistakenly assign it to woo woo energy.

Some famous teachers have waaay overplayed their hand, conning people into thinking they are producing an "energy" outside of themselves that controls their environment and others.
There's nothing much to be done. People WANT to believe this nonsense, so much so, that even in the face of it failing...over and over, they still allow themselves to get sucked and enthralled by an otherwise not so spectacular methodology. In fact, when pressed, the big shots don't really....have.....a way to teach it.
Why?
Because it isn't real.

I very politely avoid shaking that tree and completely taking apart these manufactured cons. There are practical and real methods to explore power generation through the correct use of six harmonies. People following the real methods will forever own the charlatans and the earnest ner-do-wells with their belief systems.

My best suggestion is for everyone to avoid each other. On contact it is not going to go very well. And some, coming face to face with their beliefs falling apart, and others with seeing a famous teachers fail against a nobody, will resent it and resent you for doing it. In the mean time they go about throwing themselves and twisting up in knots in front of some Asian guy!! Always and always an Asian guy... huh boys and girls?" Oh well. People will come to the natural end results in time. There is going to be an inescapable conclusion as in the end they themselves have and got nothing....while others learn to produce power using the real ki methods that were discussed for ages.
Dan

Dan:

I disagree with this position. When a negative (angry, depressed, etc) person approaches an infant, why does that child begin to get upset and cry? When you are driving and turn your head to see the person staring at you, what were you responding too? You walk into a room filled with people whom you never met before and you know instantly what the "vibe" in the room is and who you want to approach and who you don't want to approach-> what is happening? Most communication is non-verbal. There are countless examples of similar experiences. What is so hard to believe that this non-verbal communication is energy-based. I view this energy as "Ki"-> life energy. How this "Ki" can be used in a martial paradigm is a valid question. I think that you are simply tossing the baby out with the bath water. I would suspect that you do believe in this type of energy as existing. I would also suspect that you are doing your own personal experimentation with gaining some awareness of it's role in your training paradigms. Then again, I could be wrong........